Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Well, today I woke up early and headed out to catch the 628 across Roma. Of course I stopped in at my thus far favorite neighborhood coffee bar for a Cappuccino Freddo before hopping on the bus. Things were going my way today, it was slightly less hot, I got my chilled caffeinated beverage and I caught my bus just as it pulled up, I made it all the way across Roma on 1 bus (A Miracle) and arrived at just about the same time as my Team Leader Brian and 15 min early! Just before I got to the Remax office I began to feel a bit worried about such a huge commitment, so I prayed as I walked, and God reminded me of the passage in John 14:27

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

and so I went and we wrote a proposal, and I signed it a number of times, and of course being that it is Italy there was a stamp placed on the proposal. (they love to stamp things here) So now all I must do is wait.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Saturday, July 17, 2010

I have spent the last 14 months browsing Roman Apt online, trying to get a feel for them, dreaming a bit of course and pray about where God wants me to be living. Yesterday I finally got to go look at my first Roman Apt for Affito (rent). Here is the thing, I just turned 30, ahhhh and this is really the first time in my whole life that I will get to pick out where I want to live. You see I have always lived at home, or with friends, or in camp housing. (I did technically pick my last apt, but it was the only thing I could afford, and really my only option at that point, so that is not much of a choice.) So now here I am picking through literally 100's of apt in the city of Rome. Wheew.

Back to my story, so yesterday at 10am I went with my team leader to look at my first apt option! To give you an idea of life in Rome, this apt is in the same area as my team leaders, but a slightly different neighborhood, and I had to take a bus or a train to get to the apt. Well you could walk, we walked home but it is still crazy to me that I would take a train to my apt. (small town girl)

So we got to the apt and before arriving all I knew from the online ad was that it was 80 meters squared and E900 a month or $1169, (my budget is $1200). Which is a great price for that amount of space in Rome. I also knew it was unfurnished which is fantastic, as you know because I really, really want to set up my own home the way I want it. Most apt in Rome come at least partly furnished with Italian's furniture, extra house goods, and even wall hangings, and rugs. They tend to have more than one apt, should their grown children need a place to stay.

Anyway, that is what I knew. So when the Realtor came to show us the place I was pretty excited to see it. I took pictures, but they are on Sarah's camera so you will have to wait to see it. But I will try to give you a visual. It is downstairs on the street level, but on a quiet street, actually faces the parking lot for the set of apt. The door is a large wooden door with a handle in the middle. You push it open after wiggling the ancient looking key to reveal a newly repainted apt. There is an entry way, with storage in it, and the bedroom is off to the left. The bedroom has one window/finestra directly across from the door/porta. The best part of the bedroom is that it has one whole wall of built-in shelves and cupboards all freshly painted white/bianca. This would save me from having to buy storage and shelves at IKEA or Mondo (an Italian store like IKEA)

From the entry way there is another kinda 1/2room/1/2 hallway with doors to the Kitchen/La cucina, the Bathroom/lo bagno, and the living room/lo soggiorno. The bathroom is small, as most are here, and the shower/la doccia is well super tiny, but does have a place to sit. (it is my least favorite part of the place. The window is nice, as is the fact that every room including la doccia has a heater that I can control digitally! A big plus in Italy, where the landlady often controls your heating. The living room is quite large for Italian standards a plus in doing ministry, with ample space for home group or youth to hang out. Freshly painted bianca with french door style widows that open to a patio area. You could either walk that way out onto the patio and into the kitchen or back through the hall into la cucina. Which is nice because you can circle about and not have trafic flow problems. La cucina in Italy often comes with nothing. As in you must go to IKEA (pronounced eh-kay-a) and or Mondo and order a kitchen to be installed, that is the case here. It is a small space, but bigger than many. I kinda like this option, as it means I would not only get to choose my apt but my kitchen as well! It is not large enough for a table it is more like a wide hallway, but since there is a patio and that hallway/room space you could eaisly put a table either or both places. All the rooms except the living room have huge amounts of cupboards which means lots of storage for all the things I do not own :) The patio is a good size but would need a plant/vine of some sort put up on the open area to grant some privacy from the parking lot. Another normal thing here.